In the Fold – Heritage Structures of India”, the first in the “In the Fold” series, aims to explore the intricate beauty of both the real life structures and their three dimensional form in paper. The book features 10 heritage structures from across the country.
It has been published by “Fold Nation” and has been created with invaluable input from Architect Dean D’Cruz and his firm “Mozaic”. It is to be noted that Mozaic is an award winning firm that has been practicing a wide range of Architecture and Product Design in and around India. Fold Nation is the banner under which Origami expert Shivram Ananthanarayanan conducts all his Origami/ Paper engineering based work. 9twenty Creative that was founded by his brother Shrinivas also worked on the creative visualisation.
During the design and creation of the book, trial models of almost 30 structures were attempted with discussions and valuable inputs from Architect Dean D’Cruz. But, not all buildings and structures could be converted to sufficiently interesting facades with interesting complexity in depth. Each design underwent considerable fine tuning and took days of hand cutting prototypes with the same intricacies and detail that is now visible in the final laser cut pages of this book.
“This book a first in a series; is a showcase of India’s heritage structures. It explores their beauty and intricate form in paper. Each book has been meticulously creased and folded to its final form by hand,” said Shrinivas.
Shrinivas added that there were production aspect of it was challenging as it had to be handcrafted as opposed to print production. This book took about six months to perfect the design elements and prototypes. The actual production took about a month to bring the book into its final shape.
Each structure in this book has been meticulously creased and folded to its final form by hand. This book took about six months to perfect the design elements and prototypes. The actual production took about a month to bring the book into its final shape.
This book uses the art of “Origamic Architecture” which is an allied artform of Origami and other paper art.
Origamic Architecture was developed by Professor Masahiro Chatani. When asked to explain about Origamic Architecture, Shivaram spoke about how it is an art form that uses similar techniques of origami (Japanese paper folding) and kirigami (Japanese paper cutting).to reproduce three-dimensional forms of architecture and geometric patterns and that these creations are basically intricate pop-ups.
He further explained that Origamic Architecture is usually made by cutting a single sheet of paper to create three- dimensional designs out of two-dimensional surfaces. “Creating these forms involves considerable spatial visualisation that combines the skills of an architect and that of a sculptor,” said Shivaram.
Shivaram felt that thus “Origamic Architecture” was the perfect medium for this as he realised that showcasing the heritage structures in this format would add immensely to the visual impact on the viewer. “The unique aspect of this art of creating 3 dimensional forms that fold flat lends itself very appropriately to being made into a book, “added Shivaram.
When Shivaram was asked about what inspired them and what kind of studies they had to make before beginning work on this book, he said that over years, he had seen seen numerous books published on Indian Heritage buildings and structures that delve into their various architectural and historical aspects. “However, all these books are in the 2 dimensional printed formats with photographs and artistically drawn images. Therein sprang the idea to reproduce the heritage structures of India that would showcase their architectural and structural splendour beyond a flat image,” said Shivaram
When asked about what they learnt through this and what their biggest takeway from the project was, the brothers were effusive in their praise on the evolution of architectural design over the years, cultural influences.
“The immense variety of structures in our country and the intricate details are what caught my attention while designing these structures,” said Shivaram.
Shrinivas also felt that what sets their book apart is how it brings one closest to visualising the structures in a 3D format.
